Luthori Liberal Democratic Party
Founded 3893 in Clamfwyyd, Geharon in the Holy Luthori Empire. Presidential Elections As the party is federally organised, a president is elected every two years to chair the Federal Executive Committee (made up of the treasurer, chairs of the 5 regional parties, Youth representative and policy officer. The first President elected at the first meeting of the party was the economic liberal, Jonathan Harbinger. Harbinger had been a candidate to stand for the Holy Imperial Diet as an independent before joining the Luthori Liberal Democratic Party and he brought a wealth of experience to the role. However, Harbinger announced in January 3895 that he would not seek re-election to the role as he was hoping to focus all his efforts of attaining the mayorship of Geharon region, the political homeland of the LLDP in the 3987 General Election. In October 3895, at the federal party's annual conference, Lloyd Harnett, the renowned social liberal and "darling of the grassroots" won 57% of the vote, beating Dianne Hastings, who attained 29%, and Gareth Foster, who attained 14%. Harnett announced his intention to attract new voters to the LLDP by working closely with the leader, Jack Davies, to focus on areas of policy that other parties lacked nad to make them their own. This led to the publication of "A New Guide To A Liberal And Democratic Future" which set out how the party could go about obtaining a majority in the Holy Imperial Diet. After the 3897 election in which no party received an overall majority, the election of a new party president was overshadowed. However, in the contest, held two weeks after a promising election result it was expected that Lloyd Harnett would retain the presidency. However, Harnett achieved only 46% of the vote (a decline of around 11%), Daisy Fuller came second with 33%, Hamish McCall received 12%, Baroness Watkins attained 7% and Ros Butler only managed 2%. In February 3899, it was decided to hold a snap election for president given the scandal surrounding Lloyd Harnett's drug related offences. Daisy Fuller again stood for the presidency and was finally successful with a staggering 79% of the vote. Hamish McCall, standing for the second time achieved 21%. Daisy Fuller became the party's first female president. In February 3901, Daisy Fuller declared that she would once again stand for the presidency. She was opposed by the unknown party member, Ludovic Peres. The result was marred by controversy surrounding Fuller's connections to corrupt officials but she retained the presidency with 69% of the popular vote compared to Peres' 31%. Turnout for the election was a massive 87%. The presidential election of February 3903 was contested by Ludovic Peres, Hannah Stevens and Guy DeMont. In the first round, DeMonte was eliminated and his votes divided up between Peres and Stevens. Although second on first preferences, Ludovic Peres overtook Hannah Stevens on DeMont's second preferences and won, achieving 54%. Leadership Elections In October 3893, at the party's founding conference, Jack Davies was elected to lead the party. Although only relatively young (he was 24 at the time), Davies set about looking to establish the party as a viable alternative to the extremes of the Hosian Socialist Party and Social Democratic League on the left, and the National Party and Alliance Against Left on the right. The result was a socially liberal party that campaigned for strong regional devolution, it was believed a federal Holy Luthori Empire would keep the 5 provinces together. Jack Davies announced his intention in May 3894 to lead the LLDP into the 3897 elections. Jack Davies announced that in February 3903, he would step down from leading the party to focus on his constituency and elections would be held to determine a new leader. The Minister for Justice in the Coalition government, Bruce Tennent, stood against the long standing Member of the Diet, Dianne Hastings, for the role. Bruce Tennent was elected by a landslide of first preference votes 78% to Dianne Hastings' 22%. Turnout was a very high 89%. Membership The party's federal structure has allowed for a base of core supporters in the Geharon region, the party's homeland. In other areas, support is weak but improving. Membership (October 3895) Geharon: 12547 Tinako: 3988 Yodukan: 5893 Orange: 7519 Utagia:3826 Ideology The party's base ideology is liberalism but there are many different tenets, even within the LLDP. The current ideology of the party leans towards social liberalism, thanks mostly to the election of Jack Davies as leader and the election in 3895 of Lloyd Harnett as President. Elections In the October 3897 general election, the party gained 20 seats in the Holy Imperial Diet including coming third in the Orange region. In the October 3901 elections, the party suffered a net loss of 9 seats, retaining 11 of their seats. They formed part of the government, working alongside the Hosian Socialist Party, Choice and the Social Democratic League. In the October 3905, the party (under Bruce Tennent) gained 12 seats, moving them up to their highest total of 23 seats in the Holy Imperial Diet.